Hot Chocolate on a Winter Night
by P. Winfrey
Summary: AU SasoDei Oneshot Deidara surprises himself by walking into the local bookstore after a spat with Hidan. Inside, he finds himself in the comfortable company of the redheaded shopkeeper. Mildly OOC-Sasori, for plot purposes


"Deidara, come on. Don't be such a spoil sport," Konan called after him from the doorway, brows furrowed in concern, "You know Hidan's always been a potty-mouth. Come back inside. Deidara!"

Knowing he'll probably be scolded in the morning by Pein for leaving Konan alone at a party, he just kept on walking.

(But, really, Konan was _23_. Deidara never understood why Pein asked him to be her guardian for the night.)

Too far. Hidan took it one step too far.

Sure, Hidan and his Jashin-ways were barely tolerable, but when intoxication takes over, the incoherence of his words make his talk about "Deidara's art" seem a bit too hostile.

The cold winter air bit at his cheeks, and the blonde did his best to keep his body warmth consistent.

'_Walk it off, Deidara_,' he told himself, closing his cerulean eyes and undoing his ponytail as he hugged his jacket tighter over his body, '_You'll be fine_.'

His foot must have found a dent in the pavement sidewalk, because before he knew it he found himself face-down in front of the small local bookstore.

Deidara's never been one for books. He didn't even bother to read a single page in college, and he preferred to learn art techniques hands-on anyway.

Blue eyes stared at the sign of the building.

'_Akasuna_', it read.

He pushed the door open.

_Ding!_

He walked around. There weren't any people inside, just the shopkeeper who sat in the back corner arranging the books on the lowest shelves.

Well, the blonde wasn't sure if he was really arranging or not. The shopkeeper read a few pages of a book, closed it with a soft smile, and reached up to put it into its proper shelf.

Deidara glanced at the shopkeeper, a guy with flaming red hair, and coughed once.

"Yes?"

His reply was so instant, Deidara jumped, and found himself met with a pair of eyes as warm as hot chocolate on a winter night like this.

The redhead raised a brow when he received no reply, "Yes?" He repeated.

The blonde took a seat next to him, "Nothing, un. Do you need help?"

"No. Why? Do you?" He replied, a smile forming at the corner of his lips as he opened a book he should have returned.

Deidara's cheeks flared, "Hey, un, I'm trying to be nice."

The shopkeeper's brow rose, "And I'm trying to keep up a conversation."

"Are you flirting with me, un?" The blonde's brows furrowed.

The redhead stood up carrying a stack of books, laughing lightly, "You tell me, brat," and when he noticed Deidara following him to the other side of the shelf, he smiled inwardly, "I've never seen you here before. I deduce that you don't particularly enjoy books."

Deidara leaned against the shelf as the shopkeeper set the stack of books down and started arranging them, "I _don't_ like books. They're too stiff for me, un."

"What?" The redhead said, actually stopping to get a look at the blonde.

He shrugged in reply, "They don't go _bang_, un. Not even when I set them on fire. How am I supposed to make art out of that?"

"_Art_," the redhead started in a matter-of-factly manner, "is eternal, not some childish chemistry explosion."

Deidara took the last book and threw it at the shopkeeper, "No, it's not, danna, un!"

The book thudded to the ground, and the shopkeeper (with his goddamn smile plastered on his face even if he was probably going to get a bruise from that hit) held up the title to the flustered blonde.

_Art: The Eternal's Legacy._

"Bullshit, un." Deidara scoffed.

The shopkeeper laughed, opening the book and flipping through the pages, "Says the nonbeliever. Want to get some coffee when I close the shop for the night?"

Deidara, taken aback by the sudden request, nodded, "_Now_ you're flirting with me," he finally took a peek at the nametag, "_Sasori_-danna, un. But coffee does sound good. But you gotta make it go _bang_."

"Bang, eh?" Sasori smiled knowingly, snapping the book shut and setting it on the shelf, "Sure. Let's make it go _bang_."

* * *

A/N: Just something I made for Flash Fiction Month (which, I realize, was quite a while back; sorry about that). Ten minutes gives you a short fluff.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Recently, my friend showed me an app on the iPhone. _Pocket_. It's used to retrieve pages offline, but it works _really_ well with saving things. It even saves the entire available story, not just by chapter. You guys should try it out if you can, it helps with passing the time if you can't use cellular data or 3G.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated! :)


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